The lawyer, hired by the department in 2005, writes and regularly updates an in-house manual on public records titled, “A Law Enforcement Agency's Guide to Florida's Broadly Dispersed Laws.” LPD employees apparently use it as a guide for what they can release.

Mallory finished an updated draft of the document Monday, incorporating changes to state law, but Womack said it wasn't at her direction.

“I will be reiterating with Mallory what his function and role is in this area,” she said.

Womack has not yet decided whether Mallory will return to handling public records requests, she said. She removed him from the task in May, the same week after The Ledger reported that, for two days, the department refused to release a full arrest report in a robbery case.

Questions about records requests are now dealt with by City Attorney Tim McCausland.

Mallory said he developed his records guide over the years as he fielded employees' questions about public requests.

In a 2012 version of the guide he wrote, Mallory explains that a “seemingly unending series of unfunded mandates” has increasingly required the government to “take on more and more responsibilities in a struggle to make government ‘transparent' ...” But, he writes, the laws are scattered, hard to interpret and difficult to “harmonize with others.”

From one point of view — one held by Mallory — the guide is an easily understood outline of Florida's records laws.

“It's simply a statement of law,” Mallory said. “It doesn't tell people what to do. It's up to the people who provide records to apply it correctly.”

From another viewpoint, it's a distillation of what exemptions to the law LPD employees can use to keep records from the public.

Jon Kaney, a lawyer for the First Amendment Foundation, said he thinks Mallory's publication spins the public records law against someone seeking a record.

“It looks like a manual on how to avoid the public records law, more than a manual on how to comply,” he said. “The public records law must be construed broadly, and exemptions narrowly. But his whole approach is reversing that.”

Other guides are available to government offices, Kaney said.

“It looks like a glorious waste of taxpayer money to pay him to write such a book,” he said.

Lawyer Monterey Campbell, who is reviewing the department's records policies, said he doesn't take issue with Mallory's guide. He had it on hand recently when contacted by The Ledger.

“I think it outlines the laws fairly well, and I think that was the intent of it,” he said.

[ Matthew Pleasant can be reached at matthew.pleasant@ theledger.com or 863-802-7590. ]

<p>LAKELAND | Police Chief Lisa Womack may have abruptly removed department lawyer Roger Mallory from handling records requests, but his words survive him.</p><p>The lawyer, hired by the department in 2005, writes and regularly updates an in-house manual on public records titled, “A Law Enforcement Agency's Guide to Florida's Broadly Dispersed Laws.” LPD employees apparently use it as a guide for what they can release.</p><p>Mallory finished an updated draft of the document Monday, incorporating changes to state law, but Womack said it wasn't at her direction.</p><p>“I will be reiterating with Mallory what his function and role is in this area,” she said.</p><p>Womack has not yet decided whether Mallory will return to handling public records requests, she said. She removed him from the task in May, the same week after The Ledger reported that, for two days, the department refused to release a full arrest report in a robbery case. </p><p>Questions about records requests are now dealt with by City Attorney Tim McCausland. </p><p>Earlier this year, a grand jury investigated LPD after the newspaper reported issues getting records requests. </p><p>Mallory said he developed his records guide over the years as he fielded employees' questions about public requests. </p><p>In a 2012 version of the guide he wrote, Mallory explains that a “seemingly unending series of unfunded mandates” has increasingly required the government to “take on more and more responsibilities in a struggle to make government 'transparent' ...” But, he writes, the laws are scattered, hard to interpret and difficult to “harmonize with others.” </p><p>From one point of view — one held by Mallory — the guide is an easily understood outline of Florida's records laws. </p><p>“It's simply a statement of law,” Mallory said. “It doesn't tell people what to do. It's up to the people who provide records to apply it correctly.” </p><p>From another viewpoint, it's a distillation of what exemptions to the law LPD employees can use to keep records from the public. </p><p>Jon Kaney, a lawyer for the First Amendment Foundation, said he thinks Mallory's publication spins the public records law against someone seeking a record. </p><p>“It looks like a manual on how to avoid the public records law, more than a manual on how to comply,” he said. “The public records law must be construed broadly, and exemptions narrowly. But his whole approach is reversing that.” </p><p>Other guides are available to government offices, Kaney said. </p><p>“It looks like a glorious waste of taxpayer money to pay him to write such a book,” he said. </p><p>Lawyer Monterey Campbell, who is reviewing the department's records policies, said he doesn't take issue with Mallory's guide. He had it on hand recently when contacted by The Ledger. </p><p>“I think it outlines the laws fairly well, and I think that was the intent of it,” he said. </p><p>[ Matthew Pleasant can be reached at matthew.pleasant@ theledger.com or 863-802-7590. ]</p>